VAW Partnership

VAW Partnership

The Dundee Violence Against Women (DVAWP) Partnership sits within the Protecting People structure in Dundee.

The aim of the protecting people structure is to reduce the harm to children and adults at risk. This requires agencies to work together at both a strategic and operational level to raise awareness and understanding, and co-ordinate an effective response that provides at-risk individuals with the support needed to reduce the risk in their lives.

 In Dundee there has been a clear commitment to working collaboratively in relation to this work since 2012 under the ‘Protecting People’ umbrella. This commitment has led to closer working between public protection committees/partnerships, the establishment of cross-cutting sub-groups focused on key aspects of public protection work and co-location, then re-modelling of, the Protecting People Strategic Support Team.

 The Protecting People Committees /Partnerships operate in a complex strategic planning environment and therefore must continuously respond to and evolve. Within this complex context it is important that all partners within the Protecting People agenda have the greatest level of clarity possible at any given point in time regarding governance arrangements within Dundee.

In Dundee the multi-agency Committees / Partnerships recognised as part of the Protecting People grouping are:

• The Adult Support and Protection Committee
• The Alcohol and Drug Partnership
• The Child Protection Committee
• The Humanitarian Protection Partnership
• The Suicide Prevention Partnership
• The Tayside MAPPA Strategic Oversight Group
• The Dundee Violence Against Women Partnership (DVAWP)

The DVAWP is a locally-based, inter-agency strategic partnership responsible for the design, development, publication, distribution, dissemination, implementation and evaluation of violence against women policy and practice across the public, private and wider third sectors in Dundee and, in partnership, across Scotland. Its role, through local structures and memberships, is to provide individual and collective leadership and direction for the management of violence against women provision in the Dundee City area. It must work in partnership with the Chief Officer Group (COG) and the Scottish Government to take forward violence against women policy and practice.

The DVAWP supports the Scottish Government's view that “violence against women and girls, in any form, has no place in our vision for a safe, strong, successful Scotland. It damages health and wellbeing, limits freedom and potential, and is a violation of the most fundamental human rights” (Equally Safe 2014).

Membership of the VAWP includes:

1. Representative of the Alcohol & Drug Partnership
2. Representative of the Child  Protection Committee
3. Representatives from Third Sector Agencies, to include one representative from:
   1. Dundee Women’s Aid
   2. Barnardo’s Tayside Domestic Abuse Initiative and MIA service
   3. Women’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre
4. Representative of Minority Ethnic Communities
5. Police Scotland (Tayside Division)
6. NHS Tayside
7. Dundee City Council Children and Families Department
8. Dundee City Council Neighbourhood services
9. Representative for Dundee Universities and Colleges

Please see link for the latest DVAWP Strategic Plan

The DVAWP are required to report on the Equally Safe Standards and Performance Framework

Please see this link for National Guidance for Violence Against Women Partnerships

Please see this link for a recent report from an event run by the Improvement Service on Collective Leadership and VAW

The DVAWP has a number of sub groups working on specific areas. Please see link for the sub group structure under the DVAWP and the following sections for more information on each group.

Gendered Services Group

This is a sub group of the DVAWP and Dundee ADP and works to improve responses to women with multiple and complex needs. Please see link for more information.

The Gendered Services Project is an important development within this group and offers support to services and organisations who would like to improve their gendered response - for more information please see link.

Commercial Sexual Exploitation Group

This is a sub group working to improve pathways for women involved in commercial sexual exploitation. More information to be added soon.